There was widespread attention on Wednesday's vote largely because it marked the first time the "born free" generation could participate in a general election. "Born free" voters are citizens born after 1994 and the end of apartheid.

Still, only one-third of young adults, aged 18 to 20, were registered to vote.

"We're generally seeing a youth that is still quite disillusioned by the current political landscape in South Africa," Lauren Tracey, a researcher with the Institute for Security Studies, told Al Jazeera. "They don't feel as if their vote is going to make a difference."

The youth that did participate, such as Shandu Thabisile, were excited and nervous, showing up to the polls at 6 a.m. "I came [to Inanda] to vote because this is where Mandela voted all those years ago," Thabisile told Al Jazeera.

Across 22,000 polling stations, South Africans voted for 29 parties on the ballot. With a reported 65% of the vote, the African National Congress is favored to win, despite allegations of political scandal and criticism over a "sluggish" economy, according to Reuters.

Check out the photos, below, of South Africa's momentous election:

South Africa Elections

People stand in line to vote in the township of Nyanga on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press

South African voter Molefi Matabana casts his ballot at a polling station in Bekkersdal township during the early hours of May 7.

Image: MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images

Ballots printed with names and photos of election candidates and their political parties are seen at a polling station in the township of Nyanga on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press

Women wave as South African president and leader of the African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, arrives to cast his vote in Ntolwane, South Africa on May, 7.

Image: Associated Press/Associated Press

Electoral commission officials look at an army truck parked outside a polling station in the impoverished Bekkersdal township on May 6, 2014.

Image: MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images

South Africans form a long line to vote at a polling station in Alexandra, South Africa -- north of Johannesburg -- on May 7.

Image: Themba Hadebe/Associated Press

A woman casts her ballot in Nyanga township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press

ANC party members check voters before they enter the polling stating in Mount Fletcher, Eastern Cape, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Jerome Delay/Associated Press

After a polling station was burned down overnight, South African wait to enter a tent erected in the morning to vote in Bekkersdal, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Ben Curtis/Associated Press

A man looks into a polling station before voting in the township of Barcelona on May 7.

Image: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press

An elderly woman waits for help to cast her vote in Sterkspruit, Eastern Cape, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Jerome Delay/Associated Press

An Independent Electoral official stamps a voters identity book during a special vote in Khayelitsha ahead of the general election on May 6.

Image: JENNIFER BRUCE/AFP/Getty Images

A young boy holding a balloon waits for his father to cast his vote at a polling station near the house of the late former President Nelson Mandela, in the Soweto township of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Image: Ben Curtis/Associated Press

Nelson Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, center, greets community members during a tour in the streets of Bekkersdal, on May 7, in the Gauteng province.

Image: AFP/Getty Images

A woman wearing a shirt of former South African President Nelson Mandela, casts her ballot in the township of Nyanga on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press

Two voters take a selfie outside a polling station as they wait to vote for the general elections on May 7 in Cape Town.

Image: JENNIFER BRUCE/AFP/Getty Images

South Africans line up to vote before dawn at a polling station that was burned down overnight in the town of Bekkersdal, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Ben Curtis/Associated Press

A man, left, runs past an election commission banner in the township of Barcelona in the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press

South Africans line up to vote at a polling station at a informal settlement in Zandspruit, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Themba Hadebe/Associated Press

A young girl watches as her mother casts her vote in Eden Park, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Themba Hadebe/Associated Press

A woman, with her thumbnail marked to prove that she has voted, picks up her identity book in Eden Park, South Africa on May 7.

Image: Themba Hadebe/Associated Press

A woman gets ready to vote as part of the general elections on May 7 at a polling station in Soweto, Johannesburg.

Image: FEDERICO SCOPPA/AFP/Getty Images

Archbishop Desmond Tutu shares a laugh with his wife Leah Tutu (right) after casting his ballot as part of the general elections in Cape Town on May 7.

Image: JENNIFER BRUCE/AFP/Getty Images

People wait in front of a polling station to vote as part of the general elections at the Ntolwane Primary School in the rural village of Nkandla on May 7.

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